This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/566,891, filed Apr. 30, 2004, entitled Digital Data Processing Methods And Apparatus For Remote Management Of Software Patch Installation, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The invention pertains to digital data processing and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for remote management of software patches. The invention has application, by way of non-limiting example, in controlling installation of software patches by users of remote computers.
Patches are commonplace for any software product. Software publishers usually make these available to users to update previously installed software packages, e.g., to correct bugs, to provide features upgrades and/or to update associated program data. The frequency, size, distribution method, and required user interaction varies greatly depending on the vendor, the patch, the application and the severity, to name a few. However, it is not uncommon for the publishers to notify users, upon program boot-up, of the availability of a patch and to provide a link via which they can access the publisher's support site in order to initiate download and/or installation of the patch.
Heretofore, the art has focused on facilitating the provision of patches by publishers and/or their installation by users. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,249 discloses a so-called “tiered” approach to patch distribution, whereby each patch is assigned a tier or level that indicates how many individual updates are spanned by the patch. This is said to facilitate updating of user applications without necessitating maintenance of large numbers of update patches.
Though well and good for the publishers and users, such art does little to facilitate monitoring and/or control of patch installation by third-party providers responsible for other aspects of operation of a user equipment or software. Thus, for example, a user's haphazard installation of patches may make it impossible for the third-party provider to determine whether an apparent malfunction results from a vendor-supplied product, other parties' products and/or user error. While it would seem desirable, simply, to have the third-party remotely install user patches, many software publishers prohibit this: they permit patches to be installed only locally.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide improved digital data processing methods and apparatus.
A related object is to provide such methods and apparatus as facilitate remote management of computer equipment.
Still a further related object is to provide such methods and apparatus as facilitate remote management of software installation and execution.
A still further related object is to provide such methods and apparatus as facilitate software patch installation and execution.
Yet still another object of the invention is to provide such methods and apparatus as facilitate such management at minimal cost and interference to user, publisher, and third-party provider alike.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide such methods and apparatus that work with all manner of user digital data processing apparatus, such as, by way of non-limiting example, “headless” server appliances, e.g., servers that lack a monitor, keyboard and mouse (or other such user display and input devices).